Unreal World: Wilderness Survival In Pre-Iron Age Finland

 Those who know me know that I have a passion for games that are nearly simulations of reality, with my depth of experience only improving with each new element the game developer adds to mimic reality. Wilderness survival games set in more primitive times, or at least close approximations of them, hold a special place in my heart. It might have something to do with my fascination with ancient technologies, or perhaps it has to do with my desire to know where things began and how they got to where they are now.

Whatever the case, if a game involves wilderness survival and a million ways to die chances are good that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy it. I first discovered the phrase “Losing is fun” during my early experiences with Dwarf Fortress by Toady of Bay 12 Games, a game I’ll cover at another time. Suffice to say if you like intensely realistic village management games with a dwarfy theme, you need to play that one.

We won’t be talking about Dwarf Fortress today beyond that brief introduction. Instead, we’ll be talking about a game that was developed by a Finnish independent developer who goes by Sami. Sami has a deep love of his homeland and its culture and shows it through an unwavering dedication to Unreal World. Unreal World is a wilderness survival game that takes simulation of reality to new levels while retaining a simplistic graphical style that, for me, doesn’t take away from the game at all.

Wilderness Survival in Iron Age Finland
Unreal World brings us back to a time in Finland before the outside world had much of an opportunity to interfere with their way of life. It was later conquered by the Swedish Kingdom in a move that would see it fought over by both the Russians and the Swedes until it finally declared it’s independence in the early 1900’s. In Unreal World’s Finland, we see a wild and untamed country dotted with various tribal communities that each have their own personality and culture.

While you can choose to be part of any of these cultures and start in your choice of the four seasons you have limited control over where in the vast pre-Finland territory you begin. The limited gear you start with is a function of random chance, your skills, and the culture your characters comes from. While this starting gear is typically enough to give an experienced player a solid chance of surviving their first few months, it doesn’t always make it easy. The genuinely fortunate begin with a heavy fur cloak, a sharp knife, and a metal ax among their possessions.

From there this open world game allows you to take any number of paths to how your character will live. Will you settle on the edge of a distant lake, fishing and hunting for the supplies you need to survive? Or maybe set up several homesteads around the country and spend your life as a traveling trader with the villages you encounter? Perhaps you’ll head to the Southeast where the well-equipped and always hostile Njerpez dwell and fight these raiders for their often superior equipment. Whatever you choose know that you’ll need to find a way to survive the harsh winters, feed and clothe yourself, and tend to your wounds and health should you become injured or sick.

Unreal World is a relatively simple game to get into, but survival, let along a successful, thriving character, will take experience and a bit of luck to accomplish. The game has provided me with endless hours of entertainment, and fun stories to share with those who enjoy such things.  I know I didn't give much information here beyond a brief overview but believe me when I say I'll be coming back to Unreal World to highlight it a bit more in the future.  In the meantime I strongly suggest checking it out, you can find it on Steam.

Haven and Hearth: The King Of Wilderness Survival Games

Welcome back to the Menagerie!  Today we're going to talk about the most enduring game in my collection, an MMORPG that has had an incredible impact on my perception of what a good game could be, and how a Wilderness Survival MMO with permadeath can be done right. This is decidedly a niche market in the industry, and one that is incredibly difficult to do well without overbalancing things towards a safe and fear-free existence or a slaughter fest driven by veteran players with an odd sense of "Fun".

What It Is
Haven and Hearth is a Wilderness Survival Game that is heavily based on the building and development of communities that work together for mutual benefit.  Playing the game solo is entirely possible though it's difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with the larger factions that have copious amounts of manpower on their hands.  Strangely, this doesn't in any way detract from the fun involved in playing a "Hermit" as the community refers to them, and many people have long and enjoyable careers playing this game without ever becoming part of an official community.

Haven and Hearth is in a perpetual Alpha, meaning that the mechanics in the game are always subject to change, with major changes resulting in a world reset.  World resets are equally feared and anticipated, and the population of the game will swell to nearly 2000 players online at any given time during the early days following a reset.  However, a reset also comes with a completely new map, an erasure of all the characters and the development that has been done on them.  During this stage players jockey for position, looking for places that have good resources and attractive terrain to serve as their new home.

Unexpectedly it doesn't matter much whether you start at the beginning of a world or join it part way through, there is still opportunities to participate in the world and community meaningfully.  A canny player can speed their character and villages development through scavenging decaying cities, gathering wild herbs, hunting wild animals, and procuring other resources they can trade with those who came before.

If it seems like I haven't spoken much about the gameplay itself yet, it's because the community has always been the centerpiece of what has drawn me to the game as a player, and has kept me coming back again year after year.  Rather than going on about the game further at this point, I'm going to share the video on their homepage with you, just to give you a peek at what those who check this game out are in for.  Be warned that Haven and Hearth has never placed great stock on the newest and greatest graphics, instead focusing on gameplay as the centerpiece of their development. Still, I think I would find myself saddened somewhat if they were to flash it up, the art style found in the game is part of its appeal.

Alright, you've gotten this far and no doubt spent a few minutes with the video, so now that we're all envisioning things the same way we can talk about why I feel the gameplay is amazing.  But first, a warning.  Haven and Hearth not only demands a great deal of time, but something about its design compels you to not only enjoy this aspect but compels you to keep coming back.

So What's So Great About The Gameplay?

I'm only going to be able to scratch the surface of the complexity of this game, meaning I'll have to talk about these aspects in broad strokes in this article.  So I present here a bullet-point list:

• Active and Engaged Development Team - If you don't understand why this is first on the list as part of the games gameplay aspects, you've never sat and waited for months for simple updates to occur, bugs to be fixed, and new content to be released.  Their content schedule sees regular small updates coming out every week and greater updates occurring at intervals.
• Skill-Based Advancement - Not since the days of Ultima Online have I seen a character development system that focuses on spending LP (This games version of XP) on individual skills that does it so well.  There are no levels in this game, no classes.  Just you, your stats, and your skills.
• Unique Stat Advancement - In the game, they're known as abilities, and you may be wondering how you can advance these if there are no levels?  The answer is a robust and meaningful food system that requires you to think about what you eat, balance your diet to get the best results, know what to drink and when, and indulge in a variety of the over 200 foods to reach your personal stat goals.
• Unfarmable LP System - Remember, LP (Learning Points) are Haven and Hearths Experience Points.  XP in this game does something entirely different.  LP is primarily gained in this game by studying items you have to find or craft called curiosities.  While there are ways to streamline your LP gain, you can't just grind it up by going out and killing mountains of beasties.
• Magic Done Different - Everyone in Haven and Hearth is capable of casting magic using their "Hearth Magic" system.  But it isn't what you think.  The Haven and Hearth magic system doesn't contain flashy attacks and glowing defenses.  Instead, you can calm that wild horse so you can ride it longer, you can improve the depth (and therefore the quality) of your well, halve the time it takes you to study those curiosities we mentioned, and even tell where a meteor will strike the earth.
• Robust Crafting System - It is safe to say that Haven and Hearth is primarily a crafting and community development game, and as a result, there is a robust crafting system in place that essentially drives every aspect of advancement.  From the clothes and equipment you wear to the food you eat, everything is made by the players.
• Clothes With Meaning and Variety - If you're familiar with MMORPG's, you're probably expecting that your equipment will come with stats that help to supplement your ability.  You wouldn't be wrong, but you'd be quite wrong about how its implemented.  Rather than having stats of their own (most) clothing has gilding slots that you can slot, you guessed it, gildings in.  Gildings improve the stats of clothing, and any gilding can be placed in any garment that has gilding slots.  However, some gildings work better with some clothing better than others. Like everything else on this list, it would take forever to explain this in depth, and so may require another article of its own, should I decide to revisit it.
• Completely Terraformable World - The world in Haven and Hearth is terraformable to a remarkable degree by the player base.  Before you start dreaming about great ditches and towering motte and bailey fortresses, be aware that it requires an extensive amount of effort and time to complete any large-scale project.
• World Object's Appearance Based On Materials Used - Houses, Ovens, Garden Sheds, Carts, Wagons, and many of the other objects in the world change appearance depending on what materials you use to build them.  This gives players a remarkable ability to leave their mark on the world in unique ways.  Every stone, brick, and metal can be used to pave the ground, including the interiors of your homes, with a unique texture.  Great works of pixel art have been done using this method.

These are just some of the aspects that make this game unique and engaging.  Add in the unique combat system, the overwhelmingly 'natural' feel of the world with its real-world dangers and creatures, and siege systems that make it possible to defend your claims and villages while still maintaining a serious threat and you have a game that will keep you coming back for years.

It's History
Haven and Hearth got its start as most indy games do, with a pair of dreamers concocting an idea of a game that would stand apart from the usual fare and bring something interesting and unique to the industry.  It was in 2005 that Jorb (That's pronounced Yorb) first came to Loftar and presented the idea of Haven and Hearth to him, and in 2007 succeeded in convincing Loftar to 'teach him how to make a game' resulting in a very vestigial single player version of the game.

It took all of a month for them to begin developing the code on a client/server model, a style of game that will be immediately familiar to anyone who owns and plays a game that cannot be played without logging into some server.  The client is what you run on your desktop and gives you your interface, the server exists elsewhere managing the environment separately.

Since then the game has undergone 11 years of development, beginning with a quiet following that has steadily grown to include a dedicated group of players numbering in the thousands.  To this day the game retains its free-to-play model, and has a unique approach to pay to play that is well balanced, is primarily cosmetic, and is in no way pay-to-win.  Dark magics indeed.

Conclusion:
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading, and I hope you give Haven and Hearth a try.  Next week I'll be posting about another favorite wilderness survival game of mine.  While it's a single player game, it also had an important influence on Haven and is an excellent game in its own right.  For those who want to take a peek, stop in and check out Unreal World, you can find it on Steam.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Haven and Hearth, or its developer SeaTribe.  Nor is this intended as a marketing blog, I am merely a huge fan of the game who has been playing it for years, and knows how hard it is to find a Wilderness Survival game that is both approachable and has the staying power to keep players coming back. The video embedded in this post is not mine, but is the property of SeaTribe and Haven and Hearth and was taken from their homepage.